You are strongly recommended to add to your library the excellent revised edition of Harper's Bible Dictionary titled, The Harper Collins Bible Dictionary, Revised Edition [book review], edited by Paul J. Achtemeier, with the Society of Biblical Literature (NY: Harper Collins, 1996). It is currently the best one-volume Bible dictionary in English, and it is available at Border's Books, Christian Science Reading Rooms, http://www.borders.com, or http://www.christianbook.com.

Vashti, the queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I); her royal position was taken from her because she refused to obey a summons from the king (Esther 1:9-22).

See also: Commentary explaining Vashti's refusal to obey Xerxes at http://www.bibletexts.com/verses/v-est.htm#est-1-1.